Today started what I hope will be an end to my meandering thoughts on life. The month of January has been quite an exhilarating 31 days. A few weeks ago, in a surprise even to myself, I left the cubicle culture of the "mega-corporation" that I gave over 6 and 1/2 years of my life. (I have plenty of reflections, but I will save those for another post). And this morning, I stepped into a more demanding role at a smaller company where the work is more challenging, the hours longer and most importantly the rewards are much better. ... While I'll still be sitting in a cubicle, the environment, people and responsibilities have little semblance to my past setting.

... I had been planning a trip to Spain (to visit my cousin) for February, but due to the circumstances I decided to go ahead in January as a treat to myself. I came back last week after touring Barcelona, Seville and Madrid. In a sentence: one of the best trips of my life. I could write novels on that, but again, some other day.

So apologies in advance, my inbox has been flooded since December and work/life/etc. has just been a total mess ... my computers are in boxes :( ... I hope to be situated and back in some sort of rhythm in the next month or so.

And to conclude this positive post: the net effect of the recent set of events (trip included) is that I feel like a totally different person. I am so looking forward to 2011 and beyond ...

Posted in: Life, Travel, Random,

If a child got $5 they might be excited to buy them self a candy bar. Or a teenager with $50 would get the latest XBox game? Maybe a college kid getting $500 would pay for their spring break to Mexico? I could go on, but in every case you see someone who is restricted by some cost which, when overcome, would make them happier or provide some momentary gratification.

I'm having difficulty in figuring out what that is for me. I'm not saying I'm rich, but have come to realize that further contentment won't be achieved for me through financial means. Which makes life difficult for me (yeah poor me). In the past few years I've totally curbed my materialistic cravings. Not that I don't "have" stuff, just that at times I almost feel like I'm forcing myself to go for a well deserved splurge. I know it's perfectly healthy to "want" but what do you do when you don't know what to want?

And this "problem" (if you call it that) manifests itself in other ways. It might become easy to care less about your career or your health when you know realistically that continuing your default course of action will still make you much better off than most people. All I can say is that life without some challenge to overcome is almost pointless.

Hopefully I don't come across as some self-medicating blogger. I really shouldn't complain when the truth is that I live a really nice life. But I just know that there must be something I really want to "buy" that I don't have the "means" to pay for. What that is and how to obtain it are a total mystery to me.

Posted in: Life, Philosophy,

So last weekend a whirlwind of events that started in India finally came to an overwhelmingly positive finale. For anyone who doubted that such a major event could be planned in such a short time without disaster, you would be surprised. But, not really, so long as you've got friends and family that you can depend upon - nothing is impossible. So for the most part it was a big success.

Of course, this post would be meaningless if I didn't add my typical commentary. The night started off a little bad for me as the DJ butchered my name after rehearsing it several times. The bride's (rather easy to say) name was also slaughtered. My Best Man's speech sorta stuttered a bit. My mind was so much focused on delivering the Konkani I prepared, that I kept getting brain freeze. No bother, I feel most people liked it. Apologies to the non-Konkani people who were there. The venue did seem a little crowded as there wasn't much space for the bridal party to wait and the food was really so-so, but I'm pretty sure everyone ate their full.

People did a good job with the musical requests. The DJ was a bit tough to hear at times. He was a nice guy but his music system went kaput more than once. Worst during the groom's men's earth shattering rendition of Journey - Don't Stop Believin' (great photo op). Luckily (unluckily?) the air guitar session of Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer will be immortalized on Sony Handicam forever.

The bar started off on a good note. I saw someone order a Rum & Coke and the bartender asked "What type of rum?". Normally I don't see selection - choice is good! As the night wore on, somehow the pouring of drinks got a little weird. When some young folk were "doing shots", I'm pretty sure I saw some glasses that looked like they had doubles or even triples. Measure people, measure. The last few for the night took their toll. I didn't see, but I know there were some incidents and accidents. Later when the alcohol hit people, I think there might have been some hints and allegations. Luckily everybody went home safe to their soon to follow hangovers. As the Maid of Honor put it: it was the fault of the bartender. I'm sure most of America agrees ;-)

In retrospect, I'm completely shocked how much fun people had and how crazy they got considering the relative simple nature of the bride and groom - not that there's anything wrong with that. As it is once again proved, weddings are NOT for the people getting married. They're for EVERYBODY else!

In conclusion, some of you might realize that this was part 3 in the Miranda Wedding Trilogy (part 1, part 2). No one wants to see a part 4 come and ruin a good story.

... and then there was one

Posted in: Life,

Well yesterday Starcraft 2 was finally released. I've actually been excited about this game since they announced it over 3 years ago. I knew then that I couldn't play it on my PC, so I decided that I wouldn't replace my desktop until I knew the requirements for the game. I'm somewhat impressed they aren't that bad (although recommended 4GB RAM on a Mac seems a bit much). I've been looking for an excuse to replace my aging desktop with a new powerhouse, and this seems like a perfectly legitimate reason. :-)

I went to Amazon to save the game in my cart (and my wish list), when I started to read the reviews there. I'm a little disappointed with the complaints regarding the DRM and online account requirement Blizzard has chosen to employ. I will admit that when I played the original Starcraft in college over a decade ago it was widely pirated across the campus networks. But now as a legitimate buyer I'm feel a little frustrated knowing how expensive and annoying the process is - before you can even sit down and play.

I still intend to buy the game (can't wait). But first I need to buy a new computer (can't wait either). Quad-Core here I come!

Posted in: Stuff,

Well it has been a few days since I returned from India. Each trip so far has been totally different. These are just some random observations that I want to record for myself.

Rains

This is the first time I ever visited India during the rainy season. There is a reason they call it the "monsoon season". It was just non-stop rain. And during the brief bouts of sunlight, the heat was unbearable. And the mosquitoes, what devils. I counted 76 visible bites on me alone. It was an itchy flight back.

Roads

I have never seen the roads in such disarray. Firstly, even without the rains there are potholes the size of cows cars. Why even call them potholes? During the rains, you really can't even detect the full size of the holes or where they are. I had the bumpiest car rides of my life.

When I went to Mangalore at the end of 2007, I could see the start of the new roads and flyover. The construction has progressed but what a mess. The roads are incomplete all over the area. Where it is complete it has totally eliminated any walking space along the side of the road. There is no room left for anything.

Main Event

We had to attend an engagement which happened to be considerable distance away. Getting there I endured the curviest roads and the scariest car ride of my life. The map shows apx 70km but it took well over 2 hours. Rounding some corners made your heart skip a beat. (route is approximate).

In my previous trip to India I was fortunate to experience what a "typical Mangalorean wedding" would be like. I thought then that the many of the formalities were really unnecessary. Well much to my surprise the engagement event we attended was identical in almost every way but without any church ceremony. It was actually pretty exciting sitting up on the stage, but I think the guest of honor found it a bit overwhelming. Those lights can be blinding you know.

Anyways, with exception of the drive there and the heat, it was actually pretty fun. I'm disappointed all my siblings couldn't be there. Maybe next time (assuming there is a next time).

People

This trip was unique that my brothers and I were all forced to speak Konkani much more than we were accustomed to. It was okay for the most part. It was odd for me near the end of the trip, there was some moments where I could almost hear myself thinking or talking Konkani in my head, as opposed to translating from English. Too bad we were there too short to really test me.

One of the new recruits we took with us happened to be American born (like my youngest brother). I was worried how she might adjust. The following story sums it up. If you are a Muslim please skip the next paragraph.

Traditionally pork ("dukra maas") in Mangalorean cuisine leaves a sizable portion of the fat to be cooked along side the meat. If you've never had this before, you might be surprised when you find yourself chewing on a rubbery blob of non-meaty strangeness. Well our newcomer just ate it all up without any complaint (sometimes that's even a little tough for me). When asked, she revealed: "I thought, mmmmm, that must be some different type of mushroom". She ate pretty much everything and didn't get sick, that's pretty impressive.

Sadly I didn't get to see as much family as I had hoped. What was very annoying was the commute between different relatives homes. What would have taken 30 minutes or so previously was taking us almost an hour. Even where the roads weren't too bad, the traffic has just exploded. There were so many new cars on the roads. Traveling a few miles seemed like a journey on its own.

Conclusion

I conclude, at great cost, that India is still there and is still haphazardly growing at seemingly unsustainable rates. Sad to see.

Anyways I think this may be the last trip I will go to India in big group of people. I think I might go solo next time or with perhaps only one other person. I think I want to see more and do more instead of being caught in traffic or rain.

In spite of some of the nuisances in traveling, I think this was one of the more comfortable trips I've taken. But I don't measure a trip in how comfortable I was, rather, was the experience worthwhile? Yeah, I would definitely say: yes.

Posted in: Life, India, Travel,